Jane, Stop This Crazy Thing

The Obama administration is considering asking Congress to give the Treasury secretary unprecedented powers to initiate the seizure of non-bank financial companies, such as large insurers, investment firms and hedge funds, whose collapse would damage the broader economy, according to an administration document.

The government at present has the authority to seize only banks.

Giving the Treasury secretary authority over a broader range of companies would mark a significant shift from the existing model of financial regulation, which relies on independent agencies that are shielded from the political process. The Treasury secretary, a member of the president’s Cabinet, would exercise the new powers in consultation with the White House, the Federal Reserve and other regulators, according to the document.

I know there’s a crisis, but it’s time to become a little wary. Past time, in fact.

Remember that TARP I and TARP II have yet to remove a single toxic asset from the portfolio of a single bank, despite extraordinary new executive power and superextraordinary Congressional spending. And now they want more of everything — money, power, the works. All while taking on health care and putting off fixing Social Security or Medicare/Medicaid.

How much more before people shout, “Enough!”?

SIDEBAR: Every President since FDR has pushed for more power and authority in the executive branch, and especially concentrated in the Oval Office itself. The process really accelerated under Reagan, Clinton, and Bush 43. But I’m not sure we’ve seen anything quite like the speedup under Obama in just two months. At what point does Congress become a rubber stamp? Hard to say.

Obama really has let Pelosi and Reid do pretty much whatever they like, turning the president’s signature into the rubber stamp. Except he’s the one gaining the power. Shades of the PATRIOT ACT here. So really what we’re getting is more like a co-option of power between the legislature and the executive. Checks and balances? That’s so 19th Century, dude.

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1.
Lynne

Does anyone but me remember the congressional testimony just before the inauguration where an economist suggested that the government seize all 401ks and IRAs in the name of “safeguarding” them?
Wouldn’t this be a nifty way to do that?
If they want to regulate the financial system, they could-oh, I don’t know- try drafting and passing some LAWS.

How much more before people at least raise an eyebrow and murmur quietly amongst themselves, “Enough!” ? At this point, I’ll take that.

Have you ever felt like Paul Revere? (Apt analogy, especially considering that, when he made the famous ride, the citizens were asleep… seems as though folks are in deep slumber, in a metaphorical sense.)

Tea parties… Paul Revere… Michele Bachmann quoting Jefferson… perhaps the American education system isn’t nearly as broke as folks think. (We can only hope the references are resonating.)

Ahh, yes regulation, sweet regulation! Exactly what the United States needs to reel in all of the greedy, hypocritical neo conservative, far right wing nut jobs that have been robbing the American people blind! Finally, a Commander-in-Chief who posseses fortitude, candor, and the heart to stand up to the maniacs who’ve destroyed America…I love it!